September 17, 1939, Poland was invaded from the east by a second totalitarian power, the Soviet Union. That power was finally ousted in 1989, but still thinks it has control over regions it used to dominate.
September 17, 2009, on the 70th anniversary of that invasion, Obama let Poland know that US plans for a missile defence system on Polish soil have been scrapped.
Coincidence? Or a message.
Related Link: Obama scraps Bush-era Europe missile shield ~ MSNBC
September 17, 2009, on the 70th anniversary of that invasion, Obama let Poland know that US plans for a missile defence system on Polish soil have been scrapped.
Coincidence? Or a message.
Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate who lost to Obama in 2008, blasted the move as "seriously misguided" and said it would fray ties with Eastern European nations that "are increasingly wary of renewed Russian adventurism."
John Bolton, a leading hawk during the Bush administration as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said it was "just unambiguously bad decision. Russia and Iran are the big winners. I just think it's a bad day for American national security."
House Minority Leader John Boehner echoed those views. "Scrapping the U.S. missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic does little more than empower Russia and Iran at the expense of our allies in Europe,” he said in a statement. "It shows a willful determination to continue ignoring the threat posed by some of the most dangerous regimes in the world, while taking one of most important defenses against Iran off the table."
The Bush-era system was to have been built in the Czech Republic and Poland. Obama phoned Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer on Wednesday night and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Thursday to alert them of his decision.
Related Link: Obama scraps Bush-era Europe missile shield ~ MSNBC